SCHUMER ANNOUNCES $1.3 BILLLION IN FED FUNDING SECURED FOR NAVAL REACTORS; PROVIDES FUNDING CAPITAL REGION’S KESSELRING NEEDS TO KEEP TRAINING PROGRAM RUNNING
Schumer Fought to Protect & Secure More Funds to Keep Kesselring Site in West Milton & Knolls Atomic Power Lab in Niskayuna Thriving
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory’s (KAPL) Kesselring Site in West Milton Employs 700 & Trains 1,000+ Navy Personnel – Schumer Has Long Fought To Keep Program Funded At Highest Levels Possible In Order To Help Keep Sites Like Kesselring Prosperous
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Omnibus spending bill – a must-pass bill that funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year – includes $1.3 billion in funding for the Naval Reactors program. This funding will help maintain and grow sites like the Kenneth A. Kesselring site in West Milton, which is operated by the National Nuclear Security Administration and KAPL in Niskayuna. Kesselring trains over 1,000 cadets per year on how to operate the 97 nuclear reactors that provide propulsion to Navy aircraft carriers and submarines. Schumer has long fought to provide the highest level of funding requested to the Naval Reactors program in order to help keep sites like Kenneth A. Kesselring in West Milton and KAPL in Niskayuna thriving.
“This federal funding is critical for keeping sites like Kenneth A. Kesselring in West Milton and KAPL in Niskayuna growing and thriving – and the many hundreds who work there on the job. This funding goes a long way toward helping us avoid a situation like the one we faced last year, when the future of this program in the Capital Region, and the jobs that go with it, were in jeopardy,” said Schumer. “I am pleased that, with this funding, we would be able to maintain and expand these programs. So I am urging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to vote for this bill so we can send this to the President’s desk.”
Schumer has long been a proponent of ensuring KAPL has the necessary funding to keep its vital nuclear training reactor on line. This year, in meetings with Vice Admiral Caldwell, the Direct of Naval Nuclear Reactors, he urged him to make Kesselring and KAPL a priority in this year and future year budgets. The program trains over 1,000 cadets per year on how to operate the 97 nuclear reactors that provide propulsion to Navy aircraft carriers and submarines. KAPL is a world-class research and development facility dedicated to support of the United States Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP). KAPL’s more than 2,600 employees develop advanced nuclear propulsion technology, provide technical support for the safe and reliable operation of existing naval reactors and provide training to naval personnel who operate them.
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